Mac OS X 10.7 Lion: What To Expect

Editors’ Favorite New Features

We tried to decide what Lion’s killer feature was, but we just couldn’t pick one. Instead, here’s a look at each of our favorites.

Robbie: Lion Server

While the average consumer won’t even realize it’s there, the inclusion of Lion Server with the general release of Lion means we’re getting powerful server software and features at no extra cost. I can’t wait to set up File Sharing for iPad and create a Wiki for my cats.

Paul: AutoSave

Losing work makes me crazy. So the AutoSave feature, which saves changes in the working document without making multiple copies of the same file, sounds like nirvana to me.

Nic: Mail 5

I love the look and feel of Mail on my iPad. When Mail on iPad was released, I knew it was only a matter of time until it came to my computer with all its drop-downy goodness.

Susie: Full-screen applications

Full-screen applications don’t seem like a big deal. Until you fall in love with the 11-inch MacBook Air, that is. Its relatively small screen really makes you realize how much space is “wasted” with menu bars and window titles, and how annoying it is that the green radio button doesn’t always properly zoom windows to full screen right now.

Ray: AirDrop

It’s such a small thing, but I can’t wait for AirDrop. We’re always shuttling files back and forth between multiple people, and AirDrop is easier than OS X’s existing Public folders and a lot faster than a USB stick. Now we won’t have to have that “Hey, where do you want me to put this?” conversation multiple times a day. Hooray!

Flo: Gestures

I’m always utilizing the two- and three-finger gestures to sift through browser windows, so more of these handy finger shortcuts to do things like launch applications and switch through application windows would simplify my computing life ten-fold. Plus, it’s a bit easier on the wrist.

Developers Dish

Software developers have already taken notice of Lion’s coolest new features, and they like what they see.

Keith Blount,

Literature & LatteScrivener

“Lion’s full-screen mode doesn’t sound like much, but in practice it really feels as though you are pushing distractions to one side and focusing on the task at hand. This will be the first thing I’ll be integrating into Scrivener. It will make it much easier to do serious corkboard work or focus on a revision session.”

Paul Kim,

NoodlesoftHazel

“I like Versions since, much like Hazel, it just does its job without bugging the user. We developers have been using version-control software for quite some time, so it’s good to see it coming to regular users using an effortless and unobtrusive model.”

Graham Cox,

Mapdiva, LLCArtboard

“Built-in support for full-screen apps is a great way to get the user focused on their work and not on the distractions of the computer itself. Auto-Save is also going to be really cool—effectively it will act as a graphical super-Undo. These things are hard to implement, so having it ‘for free’ in the OS is a great bonus for developers, and greatly enhances the user experience.”

Comments

Honestly, I'm really not all that excited for Lion. It seems like there's a lot changing, but not in the direction I wanted it to go. Snow Leopard was exciting because of the massive speed and size improvements it brought to each machine running it, but Lion doesn't seem to be bringing much change other than how one uses his or her computer, which seems to me like a learning curve that I don't care for. Perhaps I'll be wrong though, very few times have I been unimpressed with an Apple product. I will definitely miss the Dashboard though.